


Pancakes go well with everything (including conversations with your wife's one night stand)

by Live



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Bars and Pubs, Cheating, Hurt Bones, Life's not going good for him, Like Emotionally, M/M, Married Couple, Misunderstandings, Morning After, Pancakes, Relationship Problems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 08:18:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9226322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Live/pseuds/Live
Summary: It's not every day you get home to find someone sleeping on your side of the bed. This is the becoming an occurring problem for Leo...





	

If this had happened a few weeks before Leonard thinks he’d probably be angrier. But, after finding out his Wife had been cheating on him with his best friend, what’s one more bed mate for his Wife?

He’d returned earlier from his twelve hour shift at the hospital to discover a half asleep Joanna… not at school.

“Joanna darlin’, what are you doing home?” He had found himself asking.

“Mum’s still asleep,” Joanna had looked up at him with wide eyes. “There was a strange man beside her.”

Leonard feels like he should be shocked, but he’s been running on empty for so long now. He just doesn’t have it in him to care anymore. He tries a smile for Joanna.

“Your Ma’s been having sleep overs a lot lately,” is the only explanation he can come up with as he tiredly ushers her to her room to get changed and ready for school.

With how tired he is he doesn’t understand how he got a four year old to school (and half an hour late, with apologises to her teachers) or how he drove home. All he knew as he walked back up those stairs to his and Jocelyn’s room was he had no idea how he was going to stay awake long enough to make it through couple’s therapy.

That’s the thoughts that were circling his mind as he entered their room only to find it without Jocelyn. Instead in their bed was a stranger. He had been expecting Clay, seeing as the two of them had been sleeping together for some time now apparently.

So colour Leo surprised.

Laying sprawled across his side of the bed is a man clearly a few years younger than him. The man has blond hair that’s cut neatly and spiked up in odd angles (the ruffled look that the stranger pulls off so well, Leonard is envious, his brown tuff of hair is only manageable by gluing it to his head). His face is perfectly even, a face Leo knows a couple of plastic surgeons would fight to claim as their work. And from what Leo can see of the stranger’s body that’s slipped from the covers he has a multitude of well-defined muscles as well as a worrying display of scars that captures Leo’s Doctor Mind.

Leo imagines it would be a sensual image many would beg to wake up to, but he’s not feeling it. Maybe it’s because he’s not his type. He thinks it’s more likely due to this being the sight his wife woke up to.

“Leo,” the familiar and expected voice startles him. “Can you do my necklace up quickly?”

He turns to find Jocelyn walking out of the en-suite. Her hair isn’t wet so Leo imagines she took a quick sonic (Jocelyn was never fond of sonics, but more often resorted to them). She’s wearing her tight pencil skirt that cuts just above her knee, with the white blouse that has ruffles on that Leo has never understood. The red high heels he knows that accompany the outfit are lined up next to Leo’s Doc Martin’s. She’s holding out the necklace for Leo in her perfectly manicured fingers.

Leo walks over taking the necklace. Jocelyn flashes him a smile before turning and bearing her neck for Leo.

“Why have you got your work uniform on?” Leo decides to ask, as he delicately brings the necklace around her neck.

He has a lot of questions to ask. Like why Joanna was left on her own. Why there’s a complete stranger in their bed. But, he decides work related questions are the safest to deal with first.

He’s wrong.

“Leo,” Jocelyn sounds so disappointed in him.

He hurries to finish clasping the necklace and panics wondering what he’s potentially messed up now. It seems every time they’ve gone to counselling he discovers a new problem about him that Jocelyn has. He’s never there. Never supportive. Not spontaneous. Always brings his work home. Controlling.

She turns around and her eyes are filled with the disappointment Leo heard in her voice. He knows how to disappoint Jocelyn: that he can do.

“Don’t you remember what the counsellors said about communication?” And he does, he does remember, but her tone makes him question himself and he sounds much more uncertain than he knows he should.

“That we need to talk more and listen to each other?”

“Clearly you listened better to our counsellor than me,” Jocelyn doesn’t say it angrily, she never does, but Leo hears the accusation nonetheless.

“Well maybe if you communicate now, I’ll be able to know what I’ve apparently forgotten.” He doesn’t mean to sound irritated, but that’s his default voice.

“Last Tuesday when we were treating Joanna to her favourite ice-cream for being a good girl for the dentist?” Jocelyn’s looking between his eyes, looking for some recognition and Leo remembers the day (of course he does Joanna has always been his good little girl, especially for all things medical), but he doesn’t remember what she wants him to.

She sighs.

“I told you I have a big case today and need to rearrange our counselling,” Leo doesn’t remember this at all.

“Joce…” he sighs, rubbing his eyes, he’s so tired. “I don’t remember. I’m sorry.”

Jocelyn smiles at him, but it’s tight. It’s the smile she wears when she’s indulging Joanna in something she doesn’t want to (such as buying the DVD of a silly children’s program Joanna loves, but Jocelyn hates).

“It’s OK Leo,” she steps up to Leo, presses a quick kiss to his cheek and stands back holding her arms out. “Do I look ready to kick ass?”

The counsellor had told them to be honest and Leo can happily say he always has been in their relation. He gives the same response he always does.

“And you’re going to look stunning while doing so.”

***

Jocelyn leaves Leo behind with a day of broken plans, an empty feeling in his stomach and a stranger sleeping on his side of the bed. He decides the empty feeling is probably just hunger after a long day of work and that that is one problem he can solve.

So he goes down the stairs, not paying the stranger any mind, to make himself some pancakes. He’ll probably cover them in sugar (and lemon) as a treat, after all there’s a long list of problems he has and Joanna isn’t there to be badly inspired. He deserves something good in his life.

Or maybe he doesn’t.

Jocelyn had said he never pays attention and maybe it’s true. Maybe he is a workaholic who doesn’t care about anything else. Maybe Jocelyn was right, she usually is.

His depressing thoughts are cut short by the sounds of movement from above. Turns out problem three has woken up and is moving about.

Leo sighs and waits.

He honestly doesn’t know how he feels about the cheating. Joce has said through their counselling that she feels as though she married too young, that she feels trapped in the relationship, that she loves Leo, but he’s never there enough. And Leo gets it, he does, he has a minor in psychology, but it doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt and it doesn’t mean that this was the best way to deal with it.

Pancake number one bubbles.

Leo flips it.

It’s just Leo believes he would have told Jocelyn long before cheating that there was a problem. It would be hard, after all he loves Jocelyn and they’re married, but it wouldn’t be as hard as this. This lack of trust.

Leo stacks the first pancake on the plate.

He pours in more mixture.

Watches as it hisses and settles.

He loves Jocelyn. There’s no two ways about it. He was a shy awkward teenager and she had graced his life with her presence. That evening when she had needed an escape from Clay’s overbearing paranoia had ended with Leo blushing as he learnt just why his best friend was so smitten with his girlfriend.

And wasn’t that just a kicker. Clay had been his only friend growing up, only for Leo to fall in love with his girlfriend. Then when Jocelyn had broken up with Clay to date Leo, Clay had encouraged them. Sure he was heartbroken, but he wanted the two of them to be happy.

Leo flipped another pancake.

And now… Now Joce had cheated on him with Clay. Leo couldn’t be angry. The love of his life and his only and closest friend. He wants them to be happy. Just like Clay wanted for Jocelyn and Leo. Maybe this is how life will be for the three of them for the rest of their lives. Maybe their lives would always orbit each other. Just the three of them.

“Wow, you’re hot.” A voice sounded behind him.

Maybe not always just the three of them.

Leo turned and was ensnared by the bluest eyes he had ever seen. If that was the way Jocelyn was stared at last night Leo couldn’t blame Jocelyn for wanting to wake up next to the man.

“So not to make this awkward, but-”

The stranger blinked.

“Is that pancakes?”

The stranger came up to Leo’s steadily growing pile of pancakes and pilfered one. Rolling it up into a ball the stranger ate it in one gulp and moaned.

“These are the best pancakes I’ve ever had,” the stranger swiped another.

“Just don’t tell my daughter,” Leo grumbles putting the next pancake onto his quickly decreasing pile of food and pouring some more mix into the pan.

“You have a daughter?” And he sounds so surprised, he guesses Jocelyn didn’t tell the stranger anything, he adds this to the topic of discussions with Jocelyn, Joanna doesn’t need to see this.

“Yep, sent her to school this morning,” Leo explains.

“She didn’t freak out about me being here?” And Leo pauses at the concern he hears in the strangers voice (there’s a little outrage there too and Leo wonders about the man’s past for more than a second).

“She asked some questions, but was ultimately fine with it,” Leo shrugged. “She’s a smart girl, I’m sure she’ll have more questions by the end of the day.”

Another pancake was stolen as Leo flipped the one in the pan.

“So you just up and told her about a one night stand?” Leo snorted.

“Of course not! What kind of parent tells a five year old about their parent’s sex life? Any aged child for that matter. I never want to know about my ma’s and Pa’s sex life, so like hell I’m putting my daughter through that. The only sex discussion we’ll have are ones that’ll keep her safe!” Looking up as he plated the next pancake, Leo noted the stranger looked amused from his rant.

“What’s that look for, Kid?”

“Kid!?” Was the indignant call.

The stranger looked stunned before glaring and going for another pancake. Leo pushed his hand away.

“Kid, I’ll make you your own pile, so stop stealing them before they’re done.”

There was a moment of silence, Leo took advantage of it to pour more mix in the pan.

“I don’t really have breakfast with the person I sleep with…” The Kid hesitates and Leo looks over and accidentally gets caught by some oil spitting onto his hand.

“Ow,” Leo shakes his hand out. “Watch the pan for a second.” 

Leaving the Kid with Leo’s command he goes to hold his hand under the water.

The Kid hesitates again for a second, looking conflicted between the pan and Leo, before he takes hold of the pan. He stares down hard at the mixture as the bottom of the mix starts to harden and stick to the pan.

“You alright?” he asks over the sounds of water running and pancakes cooking.

“I’m a Doctor, I’ll be fine,” Leo huffs, he hates being a patient of any kind, even his own, even for something as minor as a little burn.

“You’re a Doctor?!”

“Went to College and everything,” Leo says as sarcastically as possible with a roll of his eyes.

The Kid huffs.

The pancakes starts bubbling so Leo tells the Kid to flip the mixture. He does as Leo tells him, the pancake falls a little on the side, but nothing too disastrous.

“So, Kid were you black out drunk yesterday?” Leo asks.

The Kid shifts around.

“Going to get all professional, Doctor? Warn me on the problems of drinking?”

“Kid, I have no high ground when it comes to drinking,” and Leo didn’t, drinking was a vice of his, sure he never got drunk (too drunk), wouldn’t dream of it with Joanna looking up to him, but bourbon was a true weakness of his.

“Clearly you have the high ground with the nicknames though Doctor. Who calls your one night stand Kid?” Leo sighs, the Kid was getting increasingly defensive, so he cut straight to the problem.

“You weren’t my one night stand Kid.”

The Kid snorted.

“Who’s the one who was black out drunk now Doctor?”

Leo sighs. The pancake the Kid was cooking had started smoking in their distraction. He turned the tap off and took the pan back. The Kid looked disturbed a little, but backed up a few steps as Leo plated the pancake and started another one.

“Kid I was working last night,” Leo explains. “You slept with my wife last night.”

***

Leo placed the Kid’s plate of pancakes in front of him. The Kid was slumped back on the dining table looking uncomfortable. Leo sat opposite him with his own plate.

Leo had finished making their breakfast in silence. He would be the first to admit it had been awkward, which would imply the banter they had shared beforehand had been anything but.

The Kid looked between his plate and Leo.

“Did you poison them?” The Kid asked.

“I wasn’t planning on killing myself, so you’re fine.”

The Kid groaned his face dropping into his hands.

“So first I steal your wife, then I steal your breakfast!”

“Kid, it’s not a big deal,” Leo tried to keep calm, because really this was becoming too much.

“Your wife cheated on you! Why aren’t you as freaked out as I am? You had to explain why there was a stranger in bed with your wife to your daughter!”

“It’s not the first time Kid,” Leo tried to sooth, but the Kid just made a sound as though he was dying of a stab wound to the abdomen.

“How are you so calm about this?” Leo was honestly worried the Kid was going to start hyperventilating.

“I love Joce and we’re trying to work it out.”

The Kid snorted and looked Leo dead in the eyes. The blue were painful to look at.

“The way she acted last night, I wouldn’t say that was trying to work it out.”

“You don’t even remember last night!”

“Well I woke up with a fair few reminders of last night!”

Leo took a calming breath. Why did the Kid want to start an argument over this?

“Look, Kid, why don’t we focus on more positive things?”

“How can any of this be positive?”

“Well you haven’t broken that record of never eating breakfast with your one night stands you were worrying about,” Leo tried to get the Kid to laugh, but he slumped further in his chair.

“Because, a fear of commitment is always such a positive thing.”

“Kid,” Leo sighed. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

There was a sudden orchestra of chaotic noise as the Kid slammed forward, jammed his elbow into the dining table and the chair screeched. 

“I… I… don’t want anything! You’re the one who should be getting angry and demanding things from me! I… I should be the one listening to you complain and trying to comfort you! I was the reason your wife cheated on you!”

“Kid…” Leo sighed. “None of this is your fault. Joce is a fully grown woman, who’s older than you, and choose to cheat on me. You don’t need to do anything, other than be more careful in the future!”

“But-”

“Kid.”

They stared at each other before the Kid slumped back again.

“Jim,” he said as he started to eat his breakfast.

“Huh?” Leo blinked at the sudden change of topic.

“My name… It’s Jim Kirk.”

“McCoy. Leonard McCoy.”

Then there’s a pause, just a small moment of devouring the information given. Not quite a hesitation, but almost. After all what are you meant to say to someone who slept with your wife?

“So we should go out,” Jim blurts.

Apparently propositioning the husband is the right thing to do.

Leo raises a brow and stares at Jim. Of all the ways this was heading he never imagined this.

“Kid, I haven’t slept for over twenty hours and have just come off a twelve hour shift, why would I want to go anywhere?”

“Well, you’re still awake right now aren’t you?”

“Barely,” Leo groaned.

“Come on it’ll be fun!”

“I don’t see how anything but taking my aching bones to bed could be considered fun.”

“Bones?” Jim paused a moment in amusement before he continues his argument. “Come on! I promise not to put too much strain on your bones!”

Bones sighs and agrees. It’s unlikely he’d find himself any peace and quiet to sleep in with the soundtrack known as Jim Kirk around.

Jim’s idea of fun is a bar. It’s ten in the morning and Jim already has a bad track record with bars, but that’s where he takes them, in the driving seat of Leo’s car, grinning.

“This is how you end up black out drunk, Kid!” Leo complains.

“Come off it Doc, you don’t only drink at a bar.”

“Yeah, you also take married women home,” Leo rolls his eyes.

“Not usually married and not always women, but that is definitely one of the highlights of a bar,” Jim grins.

“Hate to break it to you Kid, but I’m married. I’m not going to cheat on my wife. And do you know the kind of STIs you’ll pick up in a joint like this?”

The place wasn’t necessarily bad, but the point stood. Bars were a sure fire way to end up with infection.

“Don’t worry we won’t be getting laid today, Scouts honour,” Jim mockingly threw a hand in the air, as though taking an oath.

“Like you were a Scout,” Leo rolled his eyes.

“True, but I’ve already got a date today,” an arm is thrown over Leo’s shoulder as Jim grins at him.

“Still married, Kid.”

“A platonic date then!”

Jim guides them through the doors of the bar and to a corner with a pool table. He runs off to get them each a drink and leaves Leo with instructions to set the table.

And Leo had to question why he was even going along with Jim’s plans. Sure he wasn’t going to blame the Kid for his wife’s choices, but he feels there should be some anger, misguided or otherwise.

But, there’s no anger. Not at the Kid, not at his wife and not at his best friend. All he feels is tired and he wonders if sleep will bring on the anger or maybe a better day than this one.

“So I brought whiskey,” Jim says as he places Leo’s glass down on to the table.

He takes a sip of his own beer and hums in delight.

“You don’t get alcohol quite as good in Iowa,” he decides to share and Leo grunts in acknowledgement.

Jim takes the only cue available and takes aim. His shot pockets a full coloured ball and he takes aim for the next shot. 

“I take it that’s where you’re from?” Leo questions as Jim pockets another ball.

“What makes you sure I’m not from Georgia?” Jim circles the table and his smug look doesn’t fade even when he misses the next shot.

He’s blocked Leo’s perfect shot.

“The accent.” He grunts, while attempting to ricochet a ball around Jim’s.

He pockets one of Jim’s balls.

“Ah, should have known a Doctor’s too smart to trick!” 

Jim jumps up onto the table to take a shot, shooting Leo a look of glee over his shoulder.

“What do accents have to do with doctoring?” Leo huffs as Jim gets another ball closer to winning.

“I imagine being able to understand the different tones a voice go through can help you tell if a patient is lying or otherwise,” Jim explains himself.

The game ends a few turns later, the winner an eager Jim. He struts back around the table into Leo’s space; his smile threatening to rip his face in half.

“I bet I can beat those other two at a game!”

The two other men in the bar, other than the guy drinking his worries away near the door’s entrance, are much larger than the two of them. Men that clearly think the more muscle, the better the man (in this case, Leo would say that was definitely wrong).

“Ah, come on it’ll be fun!”

It most definitely is not fun. Jim Kirk gets beaten to a bloody pulp when he declares his victory. Leo is sporting a growing black eye for his troubles (he had tried to stop the fight before it escalated).

They are currently resting in Leo’s car as he cleans Jim’s bleeding head and checks if it needs a regenerator. Jim is a happy camper beside him, smug from his win (Because he definitely won the game of pool). 

“What kind of moronic choices do you make Kid! What was meant to be fun about starting a bar fight? A bar fight before noon at that!”

“But, fights are just one of the fun experiences of bars,” Jim hasn’t stopped grinning practically all afternoon and it’s really starting to irritate Leo.

“My old bones aren’t designed for this much stress Kid!”

“Well aren’t you finding this part fun?” Jim asks.

“What cleaning the cuts from a stupid fight? What part of that is meant to be fun?”

“Well you’re the Doctor! Surely you do the job cause you like to fix wounds up?”

“More like I want people healthy,” Leo snarls. “And away from harm.”

“Sorry about that then, Bones,” the grin fades for the first time in a while.

Leo blinks.

“Bones?” He asks.

The grin is back.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure it’s more fun next time.”

“Next time?”

But Jim just grins at Leo and he’s left questioning everything. His sanity, Jim’s sanity and… Bones?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Tennants_midnight_wolf for reading over and making the story presentable!


End file.
